Yeah, this isn’t a joke. It may seem that way, but per “multiple industry” sources as cited from Billboard and Rolling Stone, U2 have indeed postponed the album for at least 9 months.

The reasons behind the postponement have obviously not been disclosed by the band itself because, well, that’s not the kind of information that “industry sources” provide. What we do know is that the ”magic that the band always seems to capture … they have yet to capture it,” per industry sources. OK. Perhaps most distressing of all is that the role of Danger Mouse in the project is now in question. Previously, it was somewhat clear that he would be producing the record more or less in its entirety. However, it has now been disclosed that OneRepublic singer/producer Ryan Tedder and the Grammy-winning, Ordinary Love-remixing Paul Epworth may be brought into the studio in the coming weeks/months/millennia, though Danger Mouse will apparently be kept on as the primary producer.

Then again, according to a recent interview with canoe.ca, Danger Mouse himself has no idea about the status of the record: “I don’t know [about the U2 album]. I’m working on Bells right now I have no idea what they’re doing. I’ve been working on it for YEARS but I’m sure they’re still working on the record.” This is bad news for many U2 fans because the old “too many cooks in the kitchen” adage that has been applied to Pop, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, etc. will now forever loom heavily over this new record, whenever it comes out.

And make no mistake, “2015″ is also an extremely vague date. It could mean March; it could mean December. In theory, this could take U2 out of the spotlight for as much as 21 months, though they had been building media momentum for the past three. In any case, it’s clear that the album will not be released until U2 has confidence in the material, which they have not yet established.

Earlier last week, it was a very exciting time to be a U2 fan. The band had a shot at an Oscar and everything seemed to be leading up to an album announcement. My, how quickly things change.

They just aren’t hungry in the right ways any more. They had a great run and will always be favorably compared with the greatest rock bands ever, but the artistic rut and overall decline has been obvious over the past decade. The last two singles have been frankly mediocre at best. I’d say open the vaults and put out a few rarities collections to ease the current dearth of material from the band but we can’t even get a desperately needed Rattle and Hum remaster/deluxe set now.

I’m not done with them, but this is ridiculous. I know they’re perfectionists, but my guess is that they’re overthinking the new album.

On one hand, I’m irritated and on the other, I don’t care because NLOTH is the first U2 album on which I don’t like one single song. (I would love Moment Of Surrender if Bono wasn’t singing so painfully and comically out of his range.) That entire album is so overproduced and uninspired to me.

So that makes me concerned that I won’t like the next album. But maybe I’ll love it.